Printing-block



(No Model.)

J. N; WIGGIN.

PRINTING BLOCK.

N0. 467,269. Patented Jan. 19,1892.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH N. WVIGGIN, OF ORANGE, NEYV JERSEY.

PBlNj'ING-BLOCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 467,269, dated January 19, 1892.

Application filed December 15.1890.- Serial No. 374,679. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOSEPH N. WIGGIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Orange, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Printing-Blocks, of which the following is a specification.

In printing large surfacessuch as wallpapers and shade fabrics-great difficulty has arisen from the size and weight of the printing-blocks and from the space occupied by them when not in use. In some instances wood has been used as the base for the printing-plate; but the same is very liable to warp, especially when disconnected from the press and exposed to the atmosphere while wet after the ink has been washed off.

My present invention is especially design ed for printing-slabs of considerable size, and is designed for preventing warping, for lessening weight, and for facilitating the attachment and removal of the printing-plate from the foundation-slab.

In carrying out my invention I make use of a foundation-slab composed of sheets of paper or. suitable material rendered waterproof aud caused to adhere together by shellac or similar substance and by heat and pressure, whereby a light and strong slab is formed that is not liableto warp, and, being of sheets of regular thickness, the slab is rendered parallel on its faces by the pressure that is used in uniting the sheets, and to this foundation-slab the thin printing-slabis fastened by the screws or similar device used. The thin printing-slab is made with a similarly-prepared foundation of paper sheets to which the raised printing-plate is attached permanently. Bythisimprovementthebaseslab is adapted to receive any printing slab or plate, and the printing -plates are light, easily handled, and occupy but little space, and the plate to which the raised printingsurface is attached, being of moisture-proof sheets attached together, is of uniform thickness and not liable to warp when out of use.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective View, andFig. 2 is a cross-section, of a portion of a printing-block made according to my invention.

A represents the bed of the press, which is preferably the reciprocating bed of a cylinder-press.

or represents a fiat slab of about half an inch in thickness. This is the base or foundation slab, and is to be secured to the bed of the press by countersunk screws a.

1) represents the top or thinner fiat slab, which is about three-sixteenths of an inch thick, and secured to one face of this slab is the metal or wood design-plate c to be printed from. These are secured together in any de sired manner. This slab b is to be secured to the slab a by countersunk screws b passing into the slab a; or these screws may pass through the slab a into the bed of the press.

The wood or metal design-plate c is perforated, or, in other words, the material is removed from the intervening spaces, so as to leave the design in relief.

I employ as many slabs b as there are metal orwood design-plates to print from,and each of said plates is made with corresponding screw-holes countersunk, and these screwholes align with tapped holes in the bed-slab a, and I employ the screws 1) to hold any plate I) and its design to the plate a in register. Should the plate 17 not be absolutely fiat, it can be readily made so when secured down to the bed-plate. These slabs are impervious to the printing-inks employed upon shadefabrics and to the washing-liquid, as well as to atmospheric influences.

The thin slabs carrying the design-plate are especially advantageous, because with their slight weight they are readily moved about and they occupy a small space in storing away.

I claim as my invention The flat printing-block herein set forth, consistingof the separable base and top slabs having parallel surfaces and each slab composed of numerous consolidated, adhering, and moisture-proof sheets, the base-slab being of greatest thickness and the raised printing-plate secured to the top of the thinner slab, substantially as specified.

Signed by me this 8th day of December, A.

JOSEPH N. WIGGIN. Witnesses:

GEO. 'l. PINOKNEY, HAROLD SERRELL. 

